Two Paths
by brenli
Summary: [[Chronicles of the Fallen x Coming of the Seraph Crossover AU]] A girl, raised human, but an Angel underneath, is being called in two directions. Assiah - the simple complexities, the sweet and fleeting mortality. Heaven - the grandiose complexities, the glorious and infinite immortality. Who will she choose...?
1. He Tasted of Vanilla Coke and Cigarettes

_Foreword: The following is a Chronicles of the Fallen/Coming of the Seraph crossover AU piece._ _This is a simple juxtaposition of Mitsuki, a genderbent version of Miharu - OC of HaloRecoil's Coming of the Seraph series - and Nemaelle, OC of my heartfic Chronicles of the Fallen. Placing them and their storylines parallel to each other._

 _Another notable deviation from the CotF canon storyline – In this AU, Nema was never assaulted at age 12. She is, therefore, completely inexperienced and considers herself – is considered by all others – to be virgin. A note that wouldn't necessarily be a huge feature, if it weren't for the content ahead._

 _At some point in the future, this AU is going to hit a fork in the road, if you will. At that point, it will split into two different endings, which the readership will have to report to my profile in order to locate each of them. I am aware this is 'choose your own adventure'ish, so I guess this is me taking that risk._

* * *

 **Two Paths  
** _He Tasted of Vanilla Coke and Cigarettes  
_ By: Brenli

Mitsuki was itching for a cigarette.

He figured it would've done him a world of good to light up. Today was way more stressful than it ought to have been... Shitty thing, though. Can't really smoke while you're in detention.

The desk creaked under the weight of his elbow as he leaned forward and stared at the clock ticking relentlessly over his head. A half hour to go... The thumping of the heel of a shoe against the floor matched each mechanical tick perfectly, and his dark eyes slipped to the right, looking at Nema from the corner of his eye.

Ivory arms crossed. Snowy hair still mussed. Glaring out of the window. Gloss shimmering on her scowling lips, red like cherries glistening in the summer sun. Jesus Christ. They looked edible...

He dropped his cell phone onto the desk, his long, nimble fingers tapping in carefree strokes on the touch screen as he texted her.

'You still pissed?'

Nema jumped as her phone chimed, and the faculty member overseeing them delivered a sharp glare. Nema made a big show out of not answering it, just long enough for the teacher to return to reading some fishing magazine. She made sure to put her phone on silent before checking the message, and as soon as her ruby eyes read it, she turned and gave Mitsuki a wide-eyed, exasperated glare.

Mitsuki couldn't help but grin. Why was it so amusing when she got huffy? His phone vibrated shortly on the desk, and he checked her reply.

'YES I'M STILL PISSED.'

'Oooooo, all caps.'

'YOU ARE DUMB.'

Mitsuki chuckled and could practically feel the heat of Nema's anger rolling off of her and suffocating him. Okay, okay. Time to be serious. 'I tried to stop her.'

'I DON'T BELIEVE YOU.'

It was Mitsuki's turn to send Nema a glare. ' _Could you stop with the all caps?_ ' He mouthed to her.

A beat of time passed, and suddenly Nema's pale fingers were flying over the keys on her phone. Oh boy... she was going to send him another one of her essays.

'So I thought Nanako was like, a fuck buddy or whatever, 'cause don't you have like 342534676 of those? That's what you said she was. Another one of your MILLIONS OF BOOTY CALLS. And maybe I'm just like, really stupid or something, but I thought that fuck buddies weren't exclusive and they KNOW that so like, nobody is supposed to get jealous? So why did Nanako try to pull my hair out today? I just really want to know. Like did you guys BECOME exclusive and now I'm not allowed to be your ugly friend or is she having a psychotic break and I'm collateral damage because WOW SO NOT INTERESTED IN BEING A PART OF YOUR DRAMA MITSU-KUN. LIKE AT ALL. ALL CAPS FUCKING EVERYWHERE AND YOU CAN DEAL WITH IT NOW.'

Mitsuki stared at the message, so long that his phone had delivered it to him cut up into two chunks. And he stared and stared and stared... 'Yay, you're still calling me Mitsu-kun!'

'YOU'RE IMPOSSIBLE.'

He sighed and began sending her several texts, one right after the other. '1.) I have 10 people I hook up with, you know that.'

'2.) Your definition of 'fuck buddy' is correct. Nanako was in the wrong to be jealous.'

'3.) Nanako and I are NOT exclusive. After what she did to you I wouldn't even ENTERTAIN that idea holy FUCK. She'd probably slash my tires or some shit.'

'4.) I don't want you to be a part of my drama either.'

'5.) You're not stupid and you're DEFINITELY not ugly. How many times do I have to tell you that?'

'6.) I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you. Screaming at me in all caps makes me feel like I can't reason with you. You know that.'

He paused and watched Nema's fingers hover over her phone, unsure of how to respond. So he sent another.

'I really am sorry Nanako picked a fight with you. I wish I'd been there earlier to stop it.'

Finally the tension in Nema's shoulders started to leave. 'Please tell me you're not fucking around with her anymore?'

'No, I'm done with the bitch. Nobody hurts my girl.'

He waited for a response, but didn't receive one until he looked up to meet her eyes. ' _I want to talk._ ' She mouthed to him, and when he merely nodded down to his phone... she reached out, lightning quick, and swatted the back of his head.

" _Mudou-san,_ keep your violence to yourself or you'll be staying here even longer!" The teacher snapped.

Nema quickly reeled herself in, glaring at a small chip in the wood of her desk, when her phone vibrated again.

'The roof.'

†

"Finally...!" Mitsuki sighed, exhaling his long drag of much-needed nicotine.

Nema sat on the slightly-scratchy concrete, hunched over her phone, her thumb lightly hovering over their series of texts. 'Nobody hurts my girl.'...

"So, what are we talking about, Nema?" Mitsuki spoke around his cigarette as he dropped down beside her, leaning back on the palm of his hand as he tucked his lighter away. "You wanna get revenge on Nanako or something?"

" _No!_ I don't want _anything_ to do with Nanako, anymore, ugh!"

A laugh rumbled in his chest as he smiled at his pale friend. "Well hey, at least you did a number on her, right?"

"It's not _funny,_ Mitsuki! It's not like I _want_ to get into fights, but your stupid whores keep getting all...!" In the way. "They're just _crazy!"_

"Aw, come on, Nem. Nanako was clearly a loose cannon. I should'a known there was something wrong. The sex was too good." He laughed when Nema's milky fists pummeled his arm. "But she's the only one who's been _trouble."_

Ruby eyes glared at him.

"None of the others care that you're my friend."

… Ruby eyes still glared at him.

His dark brow arched high as he took another drag. "What? It's the truth."

Nema knew it was the truth. Apart from Nanako, none of the others really seemed to give two shits about her. Why should they? All that time he spent with her didn't change the fact that after school he'd choose one, or sometimes two, to bring home or wherever the Hell he _wanted_ to take them. And that was all they wanted and that was all he wanted.

She jumped when Mitsuki leaned over, his fingers closing around a lock of her hair and gently tugging. A friendly gesture, but right now it made her think of her catfight during lunch. Mitsuki seemed to realize that, too, brushing his fingers down that lock, instead. "Nanako really got you shook up, didn't she?"

Nema swatted his hand away. "I don't care about Nanako. You said you were done with her, so why should I care?"

"Then cheer up, Nema...! It's over. Things are going back to normal."

She was afraid of that... Her glossy, cherry-red lips curled into a frown. "... So who am I keeping you from, right now?" It was after school, after all. Surely he had been thinking of who he wanted to get lost in, once they were freed from detention.

But Mitsuki only shrugged, his lips forming an O as he blew out two smoke rings. "I haven't really thought about it. Trying to cheer up my girl is my top priority right now-" Nema snatched his cigarette from between his fingers, flicking it away from them, and he laughed out, "Hey...!"

And then suddenly her pale leg slipped between his, as she rolled over onto her knees.

"Whoa, hey...!" The smile on his face began to falter, and then disappeared altogether, lost in cherry lips pressed onto his.

He tasted of vanilla coke and cigarettes, and Nema found the mixture appealing in a strange, reckless... depraved kind of way... But then he ended the kiss, tearing his mouth away. She was surprised to see he was... panting? Even if only a little bit? "Pick me."

Dark eyes met hers. So strange, to see him actually off-balance for once, but he couldn't help himself. Ever since the day they'd met – funny, hadn't they met on this very roof? – Nema had been practically the opposite of sexual. He'd teased her for it often... Nemaelle, pure like the undriven snow. Whoever said Snow White had hair black as night clearly hadn't met her. But here she suddenly threw herself at him...? "What-"

"Pick me." Her glossy lips were only slightly smudged. "Don't pick your whores. Pick your girl."

Jesus Christ, where was this suddenly coming from? Mitsuki felt a pull inside of himself... the only pull he ever chose to deny. "I can't."

Suddenly her hand caressed him, right between his legs, feeling the telltale straining of the bulge in his pants. "I think you can."

Who _was_ this girl? "Nema, _stop."_ For the first time in all of Mitsuki's memory, he pushed himself away from her, knocking over the bottle of vanilla coke he'd been drinking. "What the Hell has gotten into you?" This wasn't _like_ her...! God knows that if it was, he would have pulled her into the dark warmth of his room months ago. But Nema wasn't like Nanako or Suzumi or any of the rest; she never had been...

Nema blinked and righted his bottle of soda before too much of it would be lost to the concrete. "... I don't know." Her voice was meek and quiet, and what he was used to.

"Nem..." He sighed to her, "Look, I can't do that to you."

The glare came back. "Why?" Her voice was sharp and... rather painful. Hurt.

"Because you're not like them."

" _How_ am I not like them?"

"How _are_ you like them?" Mitsuki retorted. "All those girls, and me, we're just a bunch of hedonists. You know that. You called us that, yourself!" He laughed, "And that's not you. You're not a part of this... craziness. This 'drama.'" He quoted the word she'd used in her angry texts from earlier. "It's not... for you. You'd get eaten alive."

"You underestimate me."

 _... What?_ "Nem, no. Listen to yourself."

" _I am."_ Nema's hands planted themselves on either side of his hips. She was between his legs, and this... wow, this was too much for him. He may or may not have dreamt of her like this... "I don't want to be part of your stupid drama with your fuck buddies, and you don't want that for me. So pick me, and ditch the drama..."

No, wait, what exactly was she asking of him? Before he could even begin to find the answer for that, her hand was caressing the straining, uncomfortable bulge in his pants again.

"You usually aren't skittish, Mitsu-kun..."

Mitsuki didn't usually have lily-white virgins grabbing him like they were in charge... "You've never _fucked_ anyone, Nem!"

He scooted back, and she followed him, her hand pulling free the top button of his pants, yanking at the zipper. "You assume I'm going to let you fuck me..."

Well now he was just confused... He watched as Nema pulled his hard, aching length free, watched her as she stared at it, closed her hand around it, and began stroking him. Her touch was tentative, the look on her face some strange mix of virginal wonder... and something dark. Jesus, he thought he'd never live to see the _day_ Nema looked... aroused, needy.

But he couldn't be the one to do this to her. He just... he couldn't be the one. "N... Nem..." His voice was already tight with restraint. How many hands had caressed him like this before, more experienced, more confident, and yet somehow it was Nema's unsure strokes that had him going crazy in record time? How was that...? "Nema please, you don't want this from me..." She may not have realized it, but Mitsuki was so sure that was the truth. He was her shameless slut of a friend. She should be doing this with some good, equally virtuous boy... That's how she deserved this... But a strangled cry left his throat when her grip tightened and her stroking became forceful.

"I. Want. This. From. You." Each word was punctuated by a stroke.

How could a virgin possibly take him over like this? This wasn't normal. Mitsuki was used to laying back and purring through stroking hands, not _gasping._

Their eyes met, and the proud smile that slowly crawled over Nema's face... that was when Mitsuki knew that somehow, against all odds, his pure little virginal friend was going to be his undoing. That was when he didn't fight her planting her free hand on the center of his chest and pushing him down against the concrete, straddling his right leg, leaning down to begin raining kisses over his length.

Kisses that became wet, swirling licks that drove him mad...

Licks that disappeared in favor of her lips closing around him and slowly, tentatively descending.

He jumped, head lifting to look down at her. Her eyes met his again, and this time they were unsure, though her mouth was eager and carefully gauging just how much of him she could take in comfortably. A voice in Mitsuki's head started _screaming_ to push her off. That he had no damn right being inside this beautiful – and maddeningly adventurous – girl's mouth...

But his hand gently rested against the crown of her head. "You're fine..." He wasn't even sure what he meant by that. He supposed he meant a lot of things, all at once...

Her eyes had a way of smiling at him in reply, and she continued, her lips slipping along his length, leaving a little ring of red gloss at the furthest length she could go. Little details like those had never stood out to Mitsuki before, but this time, with this girl, those details made all the difference. Suddenly he thought of having her like this again and again, knowing that red ring would eventually travel further down, the more she did this to him... The thought made his head fall back with a groan, made his legs bend up. A sudden cry rumbled in Nema's throat, right through him, as his right thigh had ended up pressed against Nema's core. He could feel it, warm and soft, through his pants...

A million thoughts and dreams of being buried in that warmth and softness come flooding into his brain, paralyzing him as Nema settled in a rhythm over his thigh, pressing, rubbing, sending each responding moan down and around the length of him as she continued gently sucking.

How long were they lying there, Nema taking what she wanted from him, Mitsuki allowing himself to accept that his pure little Snow White had taken him completely and utterly by surprise? He didn't know. He wasn't sure that he cared. Finally the fact that they were on the roof of the school, that they had no where to hide if they were caught – and oh, they could very well get caught – managed to reach him.

Nema would be devastated if they got caught like this...

His head tilted up, and he prepared to push her off, and it was at that exact moment that Nema unleashed a long, wild moan around him, her body quivering and shuddering and desperately writhing against his damn leg... Falling into orgasm on top of him, and pulling him along with her. Mitsuki had tried to push her off, but her pale hands immediately latched on to his, and she...

Mitsuki could only groan as she took him in... swallowing every drop of him. This was madness...

Their bodies relaxed against each other on the concrete roof of their school, Nema's head resting against his stomach. One hand reached out and weakly toyed with the contours of Mitsuki's bottle of vanilla coke, pulling it toward her mouth and sipping... finishing it off. And right when Mitsuki was beginning to wonder if his pure Snow White maybe wasn't as pure as he'd thought, she looked up at him from under snowy lashes, her cheeks pink, and asked quietly, "Did I do good...?"

Mitsuki couldn't help but laugh, though it came out as a tired chuckle. "So good..." Almost disturbingly good. How could she be so innocent and yet so wanting, all at the same time?

Well, if she had an itch that needed to be scratched... Every last hesitation that Mitsuki had – hilarious, Mitsuki with _hesitations_ – disintegrated, and he pulled her higher up on his chest, rolled so that he hovered over her, pulled a condom from his pocket...

She grabbed the little foil packet and tossed it aside... "Don't you remember what I said? You assume..."

Mitsuki's brain scrambled as she slipped out from under him and stood, striding back to her book bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "Nem, you said-"

"I said pick me..." She backed up to the door that would open to the stairwell, leaning against it. She was clearly spent, her hair mussed for more reasons than a catfight. "Pick your girl... and you can have all of her."

Jesus, was this really happening, right now? "Nem-"

"I'm not one of your whores, Mitsu-kun... I'm your girl." Her lips frowned, and she distracted herself by hurriedly reapplying her lip gloss. "So pick me... and treat me like one. No more whores. No more Nanako's. Just... me."

Red eyes met dark ones as Mitsuki stood and fixed up his pants, wearing a small frown.

"It's a big demand, I know."

He sighed. "Don't be bitter-"

"I'm not being bitter." She cut him off, and then paused. "... I am being a little bitter. But it's the truth, so... it's how you are. I just..." Though she had been so powerful, so in control mere moments ago, suddenly she was the fragile girl Mitsuki was used to. Timid, worried... "I know that I can't be like them, that's all... I can't... share, very well. I know in my heart that if I tried... I would be Nanako." She didn't particularly like admitting that, but she had to be honest. "But I wanted to give you something to remember, so... I mean, I know I'm just one girl-"

"Hey." Mitsuki closed the distance between themselves, trying to lighten the mood with a tap to her pale nose. "What you did has been burned into my damn _brain,_ okay?" He smiled, listened to her laugh. "And you're more than just one girl."

Nema's smile was small and crooked on her blushing face. "... Take your time deciding what you pick. You have my number." She opened the door and slipped through it, calling out as she turned with a voice that betrayed nothing of what had just transpired. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mitsu-kun...!"


	2. Trust Me

**Two Paths  
** _Trust Me  
_ By: Brenli

Nema didn't bother with knocking. It was 11PM... granted, she'd never met Mitsuki's parents – Hell, for all she knew he didn't have _any_ – but she didn't want to risk waking them up... if they were around... if they existed.

She texted him, instead.

'I'm here.'

A few seconds later, Mitsuki had pulled open his door and tugged Nema into his home. The place was awash in darkness, and Nema's eyes hadn't adjusted. She could do little more than trust Mitsuki, as he pulled her through the dark. "You come up with a good cover?"

"Um... Well my parents aren't even _awake,_ so I just... locked the door so they can't come in?"

A grin curled his lips, and he laughed. "Oh, they'll be pissed tomorrow morning."

Nema's snowy brows furrowed together. "I'm staying over? You said you wanted to talk..."

"I do." He pushed open his door, but once he had her inside... it was all over. His lips found hers, he smiled at the squeak that left her, he pressed her against his bedroom door... hands wandering all along the uniform she still wore. He knew she'd be responsive. She'd been more than responsive earlier today, on that roof... she'd been outright aggressive.

His sweet, pure little Snow White. Oh, she had a devil hiding under all her gentleness. He'd draw her out...

"Mitsu...!" The name was ragged on her tongue. She gasped, trying to inhale a deep, calming breath, her hands cupping his face. "Mitsu-kun...!"

"I pick you." He murmured in her ear, voice in a needy rumble. "I pick you, right now."

She allowed him to kiss her one more time before she attempted to be reasonable. Clearly, one of them had to be. "I figured you would need more time than this. How long have you been giving this thought? A few hours?"

"I don't need time." Already he'd removed her dark blazer, pulled off the deep red bow at the neckline of her white blouse. "I need you. I need more than the taste you gave me."

Nema was more or less speaking into his mouth... but she didn't stop him from unbuttoning her blouse, baring the soft, lacy black bra she wore. "You get more than a taste if I get more than a taste... I come with conditions; I told you..."

"I'm giving you more than a taste."

"How-?" The question ended in a short gasp, feeling Mitsuki's fingers suddenly slip down the waistband of her black, pleated skirt, under her lacy panties, swiftly and skillfully sinking into her flesh.

He pressed into her, loving the cry that he spurred out of her. "Trust me..." He couldn't think of any other way to tell her, to convince her, to reassure her. No other way but this... to finish what she'd started.

His fingers played against her skin until her body sagged against him, until her hands had left his face to curl against his arms and try to hold herself steady. It wasn't until her head dropped, her forehead resting on his shoulder as her thighs quivered, that he moved, a devil's smirk on his lips as he tossed her onto his bed. Her body bounced before it settled on his dark sheets. She was so pale against his dark, dark bed... "Mitsu-kun..." He watched her writhing.

Oh, he knew he was cruel, leaving her like this... He couldn't leave her waiting and wanting. Clothes peeled off – his denim and her dark lace – and then they were skin on skin, his arousal slipping against her flesh, but not entering her. He looked down at her and matched his sighs with her moans, watching her through heavy-lidded eyes. Mitsuki didn't usually look into the eyes of the girls he slept with...

It was Nema who broke eye contact with him, looking over at the little table beside his bed, reaching out and feeling a little foil square. Mmm... wonderfully convenient.

When he took the condom from her, he laughed. Deep, throaty with need. "Eager little virgin..." He didn't need the light to know she was blushing.

"... S... slow little... slut..." She teased back, but her voice was a wreck. Quivering and weak and wilted...

"Two things, Nem..." He murmured to her, gently prodding at her sensitive, very ready body. "I'm not little..." The way her mouth fell open when he entered her, showed that he had made his point. "And you'll be happy I'm slow..."

Yes. Yes. She was happy he was slow, that he was taking his time with her. She was so full... so very full of him, and what little parts of her brain that had been screaming of doubt promptly shut off. She was happy he was slow...

Gentle.

She hadn't realized that she was afraid he would be rough with her, until he'd proved her wrong.

They stopped speaking after that, unless the relentless crying of names counted for speaking. Their names were anchors that kept them attached to Mitsuki's bed as they got lost in each other, in her tight, wet warmth, in his firm length. In the tell-tale, warning tingles that made her toes curl and his fingers claw into his bed. But no amount of cries on their lips could save them from the orgasm that overtook them...

†

"... Oh my God."

"What are you 'oh my God'ing about?" He spoke around a lit cigarette.

Nema's eyes were bleary and confused. "... Did... did I pass out?"

"You did..." He reached out to brush back her wild strands of ivory hair. "For a couple of minutes."

Her red eyes swiveled to him in wide, surprised innocence. "Is that normal?"

Mitsuki had to laugh. How could this girl be so eager and brave and naïve and just wonderful? He pulled the cigarette from his lips and exhaled, leaving it delicately propped in a slot on his ashtray. He shrugged, but leaned down to brush kisses all along the crown of her head. "I've heard girls say they're going to... none really do, far as I know." He'd certainly never seen one slip right into slumber like that, before... "I asked you a question and you just... went to sleep. Very rude, you know."

She swatted him and noted that somehow, her hand felt light and weak. "What did you ask me?"

"Are you okay?"

She pulled away from his kissing lips so that their eyes could meet. She shifted her hips and shut her eyes. "Achy... but... good...?"

He smiled, and she realized that for some reason, it had taken her this long to notice he had turned a lamp on. She rolled onto her back again and just... looked around, at the color of the walls and the curtains and the posters...

"What?" Mitsuki was back to kissing her. He wasn't really the type for too many kisses, but somehow...

"I've never..." Nema spoke between each moment their lips met. "Seen your... room before..."

"You're the only girl who has, ever."

Red eyes met dark ones. Nothing was said. Maybe nothing really needed to be said...?

Suddenly, Nema was reaching out from under him, for his bedside table and the little box of condoms.

Mitsuki laughed. "The most eager fucking virgin on the planet, I swear...!"

"I'm not a virgin, anymore!" She retorted, flicking another foil packet at his chest.

"Oh, you'll always be my eager little virgin..."

†

Mitsuki's 7:00AM alarm began blaring... Normally, loud and screaming rock music, but at some point when one of them had reached for yet another condom, they'd knocked the dial off. Some staticy, half-metal, half-talk show mess greeted them.

"God, you have Satan wake you up every morning...?" Nema spoke in yawns as Mitsuki shut it off.

"I think that was your fault." Jesus, if they were lucky, they might have 6 hours of sleep... between the both of them.

"Shut up." Nema spoke through giggles as she rolled on top of him. Memories flooded them, making them smile. "... Let's skip first hour, today."

Mitsuki's head tilted slightly, his dark chocolate eyes blinking. If he'd had _any_ idea what she'd be like in bed...! "You sure you haven't gone through my entire _stash,_ little virgin?" Oh, this was going to become a problem, he just knew it. She was going to need to get on the pill, and soon...

She grabbed the box of condoms and shook out the last square of foil. "Not yet, I haven't...!"

He leaned back against his pillows and grinned. He had already known her parents were going to be pissed the following morning... but now he knew just _how_ pissed.


	3. Happy Birthday

**Two Paths** _  
_ _Happy Birthday_  
By: Brenli

"Come on..."

Mitsuki's lips quirked up into a smirk as he languidly stretched out across his bed, the crown of his head resting on one hand. "Again?"

"Stop it." But Nema laughed when his dark brow lifted suggestively, her pale foot lightly tapping his chest as she lay beside him, her head cradled by a messy pile of pillows. "That wasn't what I meant."

"I can't have birthday sex?"

"Isn't that why we're here right now? Half-undressed?" She bit her lip as she mischievously pulled his unbuttoned shirt further open with her foot, and let out a soft squeal when his hand closed around her ivory ankle and pinned her to the sheets.

"No..." He spoke in low purrs. "That was just hello sex."

Nema's ruby eyes narrowed teasingly as they met his own dark ones... dark for more reasons than just their color, his stare promising and beckoning as he gently caressed her ankle. She groaned, her head falling back against his pillows. "Nooooo, you're ruining my plans...!"

He sighed, but smiled. "It's just a birthday, Nem. You don't need to go all out."

"Birthdays are important."

"Why?" His finger circled the bone of her ankle, "It's just one year closer to death, if you think about it."

Her foot suddenly broke free of his hold and tapped his chest again. "No pessimism allowed, today!"

Mitsuki caught her by her ankle once more. "All right, all right; I'm sorry."

"Your birthday _is_ important. You wouldn't exist if you never had one. It deserves to be celebrated."

"Hey." He sat up, reaching out to trace the line of her jaw. "I get it, Nem."

"You better get it." Her attempt at a pout melted into a smile. "Can we go, then...?"

"Go where?"

"That's a surprise!" Nema was immediately on her feet, padding over to his closet door and pulling one of several ties off of a hook.

Mitsuki couldn't help himself. "You're into blindfolds, now?"

"Mitsu-kun, I will gag you with this if I have to." She quickly silenced him with a warning finger, even as a blush colored her snowy face. "Don't."

"I didn't!" He replied with a grin. But oh, the joke was hard to keep all to himself... and so was the fantasy. Especially when his snowy-haired Snow White straddled him, wrapping his tie over his eyes, securing it with a firm knot at the back of his head.

Especially when she kissed his suddenly sightless self. "Mitsu-kun..."

They were coming up on their three-month anniversary – strange, the idea of monthly anniversaries, but Nema loved them – and there were still times when she made the floor fall out from beneath him. He would never get used to it. He'd _tried_. But she was part sweet shy gentleness and part naughty imp and despite all the girls he'd been with before, none of them had been quite like that. Nema was something entirely different. Wonderfully different. "Little virgin still sounds pretty eager, I think..."

He felt her climb off him with a playfully annoyed sigh, heard clothing begin to rustle. "How many times do we have to sleep together before I'm not a virgin, anymore?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that you'll always be my eager little virgin?"

"You're impossible!" She whined as she fixed up his clothes, zipping up his pants, buttoning his shirt back together. "Well your little virgin is asking you to wait. Can you do that, birthday boy?"

"I'm waiting, aren't I?" His brows lifted, partly in surprise, partly in suggestive pleasure, when he felt her hand cup the bulge between his legs.

She laid on top of him once more, and Mitsuki realized he didn't feel the soft fluff of her skirt and the petticoat beneath it, didn't feel the firm steel boning of her corset. "... Barely." She whispered in his ear, and then she was pulling him to his feet. "Come on, I gotta call a cab."

"A _cab?_ " He had no choice but to hold onto Nema's hand and follow her blindly. "And I'm supposed to wait for this cab wearing a tie over my eyes?"

"I'll make it worth your while."

"Really? In my living room?"

Mitsuki let out a rumble of a laugh when she gasped. He didn't need to see her to know her cheeks were glowing red. "No! Oh my God, Mitsu-kun!"

"What? My parents are at work."

" _So?_ They could come home early, you know!" She snapped, but then began to coo sweetly, "Bye, Marubaru-chan!"

He shook his head with a smile as he heard the bell on his cat's collar jingle, and noticed little rays of light managing to peek through the edge of his blindfold. "Marlboro."

"Yeah, that's what I said. Marubaru." Oh, she knew her Japanese tongue slipped all over the name, but she couldn't help it. Maybe with enough time and practice, with enough visits to Mitsuki's house... maybe she'd eventually pronounce the name right.

He stood on the front porch, utterly blind, listening to Nema place her call and some crinkling sound...

And then lips, her soft lips pressing on his own. "Open..." She whispered.

Jesus Christ, how long would he have to wait? He obeyed, and smiled when he felt the small, sugary sweet, strawberry-frosted tip enter his mouth. "Pocky game, huh?" He spoke around the thin stick.

"Pocky game," She said simply, gently nibbling, he responding in kind until their lips met and lingered.

They made it through five sticks by the time the cab had pulled up, and Mitsuki wasn't sure how they were supposed to just sit in that cab for however long they'd have to, and _not_ do anything.

She guided him into the taxi, heard her quietly murmur to the driver, and as soon as they were on the road...

"Mitsu...!" She grabbed onto his wandering hands and give him a breathy laugh. "Do I have to bind your wrists, too?"

He ignored her teasing question. "What are you wearing?" He'd felt fabric, but... very, very little of it.

"Clothes!" She squirmed, her words shaking with giggles. "You're cheating!"

"Come on, Nem... the blindfold, the pocky, and now the cab ride? You're torturing me." He leaned forward, meaning to whisper in her ear, but when his lips found the tender skin stretched over her collarbone, he went along and brushed kisses upon it. "You're going to break my heart, Nem..."

"Not possible." She sighed quietly. "You have to wait, Mitsu-kun. It'll be worth it."

God, he hoped so...! With those other girls he used to have, sure, he could have sat there and waited patiently, calmly. But not this time, not with Nema. She was different... like she wasn't even human, like she was a Goddess or an Angel or a damn Succubus. He didn't know.

Mitsuki realized where she'd taken him as soon the cab stopped and the sounds of ocean waves entered his ears from the open window. "The beach?"

Nema only giggled as she hurried out of the cab, pulling him along with her. "You said you wanted to go with me...!"

"Nem, the sun is going to burn you."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'll be _fine?_ I've seriously never been sunburned ever in my whole life. I'm like this bizarre anomaly or something..."

He felt the tie loosen and fall away from his head, and his brow arched high in appreciation. He'd been right... there was very little fabric. A deep violet mini skirt and a black crop top that hung from her breasts in a way that was far too inviting...

But before Mitsuki could say anything about her not-so-typical clothes, she was already peeling them off, revealing the cherry-red bikini underneath. And she had the nerve to smile sweetly, cutely the whole time... "And no swimwear for me?" He had to speak quietly to conceal how raw his voice had become.

"It's in here," She held up the large beach bag, "But you'll have to catch me if you want it."

'It' meaning a variety of things, and they both knew it... So he wasted no time, immediately springing after her as she squealed and ran through the sand. Oh, he'd been forced to wait long enough...

She lost one red sandal in the sand, and then the other, and finally the bag as he grabbed her by her snowy-pale waist and pulled her away from the reaching ocean water. "And where am I supposed to change, Nem? Tell me!" He asked through laughter, both his and hers.

"Right here, right in the open!"

"I'll do it."

"No you won't!"

He set her down in the sand, his smirk at once both dark and charming as he unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it off his shoulders, dropping it over her body... over her hips, which had begun to wriggle as she watched him...

But the smile left her face as soon as he pulled down his zipper. "Oh my God, Mitsu-kun! Stop!" Her hands covered her bright red face.

Mitsuki's pants hung threateningly low on his hips, and he gestured with helpless hands. "Where am I going to change, Nem?"

"Oh, for-" Nema, flustered and fidgety, grabbed the beach bag and ran again, toward the rocky outcropping near the far edge of the beach.

"Nem! What the-" He watched her disappear around the rocky edge, her bare feet briefly splashing through cool ocean water. He followed her, hopping from rock to jagged rock, and saw her ivory hand reach out to take his hand and pull him into the dark, wet crevice in the rock. He looked around the tiny cave, wet sand under his shoes.

"You've never been in here, before?" Nema's pale brows furrowed together at him. "I was always disappearing in here when I was little... You can hear the ocean echoing around in here. It's like being inside a sea shell."

A fond smile lit up her face, and she was right. It was like being stuck inside of a dark sea shell, the air heavy with sea spray and the sounds of ocean waves... Stuck in a sea shell with a girl as pale as pearls, holding out a beach bag.

" _Now_ you can get undressed... in privacy."

Yes. Yes he could.

He could also toss that bag aside as soon as he'd rid himself of the rest of his clothes, and pull Nema's gasping, bikini-clad body against his naked one.

That bikini didn't stay on her long, peeled off and left on the wet, sandy floor. The skin that cherry-red fabric had once censored was now covered with kisses all across her bosom, with hands grasping her rear and lifting her, with hips meeting hips.

"We have to be... quiet...!" She gasped as she felt the rough, wet rock against her back. "And quick...!"

Quiet and quick. After the torture she'd put him through. Right. "I'm not the loud one..." Mitsuki grumbled against her breasts.

Embarrassment made her squirm against him. "Sometimes you are-!" But her mouth fell open with a cry, feeling him enter her, fill her deeply.

"Shhh..." He teased her, but he had to bite back moans of his own.

That was their game as they writhed together, dark eyes and ruby eyes gazing at each other, needy and pleased and challenging. Their breaths came in puffs in the slight chill of their little cave, their make-believe sea shell, and that was the only noise they would allow themselves. Breaths that rolled out of their mouths in sighs, mouths sometimes clenched tightly shut, sometimes opening with the threat of a lusty moan.

But when Nema's eyes shut, Mitsuki knew they wouldn't keep quiet for long... Her pearl-pale thighs quivered and clenched around his waist, and his forehead pressed against hers before he managed to bite out a hushed, ragged, desperate, "Kiss me..."

He didn't need to ask twice, Nema's lips suddenly crashing against his own, muffling the sea's worth of moans and cries they both had tried to hold back for so long, too long.

Their bodies slowly sank to the wet sand as the rapture ebbed and flowed through them, running through them like the push and pull of the tide... and then Nema was laughing. A soft, spent, pleased, overwhelmed, breathy laugh that spoke volumes of how naughty and wonderful she felt.

Even now, he wasn't used to that. How she could be a lewd little Devil and then blush and bashfully smile like the pure little Angel she typically was. The pure little Angel he'd met on the school roof.

She cupped his face in her still-trembling hands and dotted feather-light kisses on his lips like sea spray, and his laughter mirrored hers. He couldn't help it. He was never overwhelmed by anything or anyone but her.

"Happy birthday, Mitsu-kun..."


End file.
